Author of Sense of Direction, Lotto Trouble, The Choosers and Stockhammer

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Fraternity Hazing – Lineage

The recent death of a Penn State student as part of a fraternity hazing has captured the attention of the country. How many more young men need to lose their lives before university presidents proactively set zero tolerance policies for anyone in Greek Life who perpetuates these dangerous rituals?

In my newest award winning novel, Lineage, (2017 Independent Press Award – Suspense) published February 28, 2017, a boy named Rodney dies in a fraternity initiation ceremony. The brothers’ code of silence causes the details of Rodney’s death to remain hidden despite an inquest.

Five years later a fraternity brother visits Rodney’s grieving father and reveals the sordid details that occurred on that fateful night. The father blames not only the brothers that were present that evening, but all of the previous fraternity brothers who as productive members of society, failed to step forward to change a ceremony that could only lead to tragedy.

Although the father might have addressed this in a more constructive manner, he sets out instead, to kill the fifty-five surviving members of his son’s lineage.

Let’s not have another family destroyed by the death of a young man – all because current fraternity brothers and alumni – are either too timid or indifferent to step up and demand change. I call for graduates of every decade to return to their fraternities to reexamine whether the good clean fun they had experienced in their youth, was exactly that. Let’s not allow antiquated traditions that promote dangerous indiscretions, take the life of another young person.